Learn how to list and remove scheduled at jobs from the command line. 16.11.2025 | reading time: 2 min When you schedule work with at, you sometimes must remove a job quickly; this short guide shows how to list, cancel and verify at jobs from the shell so you can fix mistakes before they run. Hands-on demo Create a job: `echo "echo Hello" | at now + 2 minutes` (the command prints a job number like "job 3"); check queued jobs with `atq`; cancel the job with `cancel 3` and confirm `atq` returns nothing, which proves the job was removed. Edge cases and tips Only the job owner or root can remove an at job, so use root when you must clear another user's entries; you can pass several numeric job IDs to cancel one by one; on many systems `atrm` is an equivalent tool and jobs are stored under "/var/spool/at" so inspecting that directory helps when troubleshooting. Companion commands Use `atq` to list pending at jobs, `atrm` or `cancel` to remove them, and check the at daemon (often `atd`) or system job logs when jobs do not behave as expected. Where to go next Canceling stray scheduled jobs is a small but vital skill; practice by scheduling harmless commands, inspect the spool, read `man at` and consider formalizing skills with certifications such as CompTIA Linux+ or LPIC-1 — bitsandbytes.academy offers intensive exam preparation to get you ready fast. Join Bits & Bytes Academy First class LINUX exam preparation. processes utilities scripting troubleshooting
